Matildas score late in see-sawing draw with South Korea as top spot slips away at Women’s Asian Cup | OneFootball

A stoppage-time equaliser to Alanna Kennedy has given Australia a messy 3-3 draw against South Korea that means the Matildas have finished second in their Asian Cup group.

An early strike by Mun Eun-ju and two quick second-half goals gave Korea a 3-2 lead all the way up to the 97th minute and the 2022 runners up looked certain to claim the win on Sunday night.

But Kennedy, thrown forward in the final 10 desperate minutes of the game, scored her second of the night after a neat cut-back by Sam Kerr near the penalty spot, sending the record-breaking 60,279 fans into raptures at Stadium Australia.

While their spot in the quarter-finals was secured in the Matildas’ win against Iran on Thursday, Sunday’s game was framed as a must-win by Joe Montemurro to determine who would top the group and have an easier passage through to the final four.

With that in mind, Montemurro made five changes from the side that defeated Iran, including handing goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold her first start ahead of Chloe Lincoln.

Katrina Gorry, Clare Wheeler, Winonah Heatley and vice-captain Steph Catley all returned to the starting lineup, while Mary Fowler also earned her second straight start in what could be deemed Australia’s strongest 11.

But the home side were the architects of their own downfall, with their performance marked by a different kind of messiness than the free-flowing football Montemurro had quipped about a week ago.

Signs of fatigue and disconnection were evident in the third minute after a soft pass-back by Clare Hunt forced Arnold to sprint off her line and slide in to clear the ball from an onrushing Korean attacker, while gilt-edged chances to Gorry and Foord, who found themselves one-on-one with the goalkeeper, were poorly taken.

Australia’s disrupted start included an early substitution after Catley was struck on the side of the head by a whipped cross, coming off in the 16th minute for Courtney Nevin due to concussion protocols, following on from Hayley Raso’s similar injury against Iran.

Foord was uncharacteristically off her game throughout the first half, with crosses, passes and shots swirling all over the place, while Gorry’s positioning as an attacking midfielder often left huge gaps open in midfield, which South Korea regularly exploited.

Australia came to rue their early missed opportunities when Korea opened the scoring in the 12th minute after their first counterattack of the game. A messy clearance from Heatley was intercepted and quickly fed to winger Jeon Yu-gyeong, who raced into the space left behind her and Carpenter before arrowing a low cross into the box for Mun to toe-poke past a statuesque Arnold.

Korea could have made it 2-0 after a quick free kick near the top of Australia’s penalty area fizzed past the Matildas’ entire back line in the 26th minute, but a poor first touch from Mun allowed them to scramble and clear it away. The team’s frustrations continued to mount, with players seen throwing their arms in the air and speaking frantically to each other.

Fowler was Australia’s one saving grace, with the floating attacker finding pockets of space around Korea’s back line and sending dangerous crosses into the penalty area for Kerr and Foord to try to connect with.

It was her volley off a chaotic, pinballing corner in the 31st minute that Kennedy poked past goalkeeper Kim Min-jung to equalise, while a deep cross in the 41st minute was just missed at the back post by a flying Foord.

Foord’s best contribution came in stoppage time of the first half as she found herself in a rare patch of space, and used it to square a perfect ball in for Kerr to sweep home from near the penalty spot, giving the home side a surprising 2-1 lead heading into half-time.

But the good vibes were short-lived. A handball by substitute Courtney Nevin in the 50th minute allowed Kim Shin-ji to calmly slot her equalising penalty past a wrongfooted Arnold, while a lethal low strike from winger Kang Chae-rim just before the hour gave them a 3-2 lead in front of a small but fanatic South Korean crowd.

Montemurro made his first change in the 70th minute, bringing on Amy Sayer for Clare Wheeler and shifting Fowler into a more central midfield position. It came to little, though, with Fowler moved back to the left wing in the final 10 minutes as Kyra Cooney-Cross and Emily van Egmond came on in place of Gorry and Heatley.

Van Egmond was immediately in the middle of the action, lifting a distant shot over the crossbar a few moments before slipping a pass through Korea’s back line for Kerr, but the striker was called back for offside.

As the clock ticked into stoppage-time, a desperate Matildas threw Kennedy up front, and in the 97th minute, a hail Mary pass fell to the feet of Kerr near the six-yard line, who laid off for the onrushing Kennedy to slam into the net.

The result means Australia finish second in their group and will head back to Perth to face the runner-up of Group B, which will likely be either North Korea or reigning champions China. It also means the Matildas will avoid tournament favourites Japan until the final, should they make it.

Header image: [Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA]